One more week...

And I'll be back in Kansas. I'm ready-I'm seriously hungry. I'm tired of chicken (gasp!!)-that's pretty much the only thing I eat. If I get tired of it-I don't really have any backups. I'm not so much of chicken on a whole, but I'm tired of roasted or broiled chicken. I've started packing. I have four suitcases-two are staying here. I've packed two and there doesn't seem to be much of a dent in my room.

Today, we were cleaning our fish pond-actually Rich was cleaning, I was making sure the fish stayed in the bucket-silly things kept jumping out. Once the pond was drained, there were a bunch of frogs at the bottom. For being a girly-girl, I don't have problems touching frogs, toads, fish, turtles, etc so I went to pick up a frog. Rich noticed what I was doing and told me to be careful and not touch the red frog because it might be poisonous. Of course, what did I hold in my hands? A red frog. I went specificially for that one because it was red and I hadn't seen a red frog except in the zoo. England doesn't really have much "wildlife", so I didn't think it was harmful. It didn't bite me or anything and it looks exactly like the other frogs, but red. I looked it up on the internet and couldn't find one like it-it definitely isn't a Tomato frog or the Poison-Arrow frog. Maybe it's just "special."

Leeds Fashion Week is this week-it starts May 24 and runs through the weekend. I'll take lots of pictures. I have a few details to work on, but I'm mostly ready.

What am I doing wrong??

I don't claim to be a good cook or even a fair cook, but I can read. Since I'm not a very good cook, I follow the directions very well-I'm one of those that precisely measures my ingredients, double checks the quantity, does exactly what it says. However, every time I try to make some type of biscuit, they do NOT turn out. The British don't have what we call biscuits-biscuits to them are cookies. Not even KFC or McDonald's have biscuits-that's the only thing I like from KFC (I don't like their chicken) and a plain biscuit is only thing I will eat from McDonald's for breakfast, but they don't have them-they use McMuffins for everything and KFC only has fries, excuse me, I mean chips for a side. The closest thing they have are scones-I bought some-melted a little butter on them, set them in the oven to warm up. I was so excited because they LOOK like biscuits, however, they do not taste like them. I was very disappointed, but not really surprised. I was just hoping...

Anyway, I brought with me from the States some packages of buttermilk biscuits-just preheat the oven (check), add a cup of milk (check), mix and drop on lightly greased cookie sheet (check), bake for 8-10 minutes. I did exactly what it said-did I get buttermilk biscuits?? Nope. I got those odd shaped balls you seen in the picture-they're supposed to look like the ones on the package. They didn't taste very good-the tops were edible, but they were really dried out. And that, I blame the oven for. They have "fan assisted" ovens here-there is a fan constantly blowing supposedly to circulate the hot air to cook the food faster. I have to laugh at that-it always takes TWICE as long whenever I'm cooking something. It says 15 minutes for my banana nut muffins-30 minutes later they're almost done.

I have been cooking more these past 5 month than I've cooked my entire life. I'm starting to enjoy it-I think I'll enjoy cooking more back in States. The oven (it's also gas) and I do not get along. I've heard gas ovens are easier, but not for me. That flame and I are often at odds-I turn it down, it goes off. I turn it up, it tries to catch me on fire.

I'm including a few pictures of Leeds. The round building is the Corn Exchange where I've taken some of my jewelry that I made and sold it. I did really well-I want to bring over Finis Opus stuff in July to sell. The other pictures are of the Briggate-popular shopping area. The horses that live near me have some cute ponies, so I'm including a picture of them also.

Just an FYI

I would really appreciate if all of you could keep my friend, Aaron and his family in your thoughts and prayers. His parent's house was destroyed in the tornado in Greensburg. Aaron was in Haviland all day Saturday since that is where some of the shelters are. They were hoping to get into Greensburg Sunday with trucks/trailers to see what they can salvage. I wish I could go help them, but I'm stuck in England, so I would really appreciate if you would pray for them. Thanks!

Busy Bee

The time seems to be flying by-I've been really busy lately trying to finish up papers and study for finals. One paper is done, two to go and I'm not too worried about the final (fortunately, I only have one). I finished up my internship last week. I really enjoyed it and the new Edward Burne-Jones gallery looked awesome. Birmingham Museum and Gallery are trying to improve their Pre-Raphaelite exhibits-they've been getting a lot of criticism because they have the largest collection, but not much is on display, so they are working on it. I'm glad I got to be a part of it.

Most of you know, I'm a hardcore Byron scholar (or geek, however you want to look at it) and on Tuesday I finally made it to Newstead Abbey. It's closed from November to April and I tried to go last Friday and it rained (the only day in weeks). Tuesday was a lovely day and I made it to the Abbey with no problems (using a variety of public transportation and lots of walking). To give you a little history, Newstead Abbey was originally an Augustinian priory founded in about 1170. It was a working priory until Henry VIII dissolved the monastery in 1539. However, Henry granted Newstead to the poet's ancestor, Sir John Byron, who converted the priory into a house. It was in the Byron family until Lord Byron sold it in 1818 and it was given to the Nottngham Council in 1931. It's a very well preserved abbey, unlike most in England that were gutted. The gardens are beautiful and there are two lakes and a few ponds.

I've included a few pictures of Josh's football game from last week. He plays on the Old Bridge Sunday league. They're pretty good and doing well in their league. There are many football leagues and I don't pretend to keep up on them very well, so I don't know how they rank "overall." He is number 8. This is their home pitch and it isnt't the best, it's not even and I think it floods often.

After living here, I've gained a fair amount of knowledge of football and enjoy watching it more. I've been keeping track of the Champion's League games and even watched the last two. The final is between Liverpool and Manchester United- Josh and Rich are cheering for Liverpool-I guess I will too.

Birmingham and the Yankee behind the wheel...

Birmingham Museum & Gallery

Birmingham Town Square

Birmingham City Township

Birmingham City Centre

The Dreaded Roundabouts


Last Saturday I went to Birmingham Museum and Gallery (where I intern) for a Edward Burne-Jones seminar. It was interesting-there were six speakers. A few of them, I think, were nervous. They kept stuttering and I have trouble at times understanding them with the accent, so I missed parts of their presentation because I could not understand them. Two of the speakers were awesome and very interesting. The train ride was fairly direct (2 hours each way), so that is always a pleasant change.

I "jumped the gun" when I said my driving was improving. I've been violating the law all over the place. Josh and a friend were hired to paint a house and needed to go to the hardware store for more paint on Friday, but few people have cars. I was just working on a paper and needed a break, so I went to pick them up. For the most part, I did well and I had to go through roundabouts mind you. Anyway, we're almost back to the house and Mark (the friend, British, in the backseat) says as I drive through an intersection (in a residential neighborhood) "did you know you ran that stop sign?" I said "what stop sign?" I didn't see any stop sign. Apparently, the two thin white-dotted lines painted on the roads at the intersections are stop signs. Are you kidding me? I'm concentrating so hard making sure I'm staying in the correct lane and so on that I don't pay attention to lines painted on the road unless they are the lines down the middle and crosswalks. Besides, most of them are faded and you can't really tell what they are, but to me, they do not signal "stop". Then, Josh and I were going to a movie and he says "Give Way" and I'm thinking what? That's what they call "Yield" signs, which I've been driving through as well. I see them and often wonder to myself "is that the same thing as Yield? That's kind of dumb wording-why not just say Yield?" By then, I'm way past the sign (and I did not "give way") and thinking of something else. However, it makes Josh nervous, so he yells "Give Way", which scares me and is probably far more dangerous while I'm driving. To top it all off, we went to pick up a pizza at Pizza Hut and there's a few entrances into the shopping area and I picked the first one. Josh, calmly, tells me to quickly turn left because it is a one-way entrance and the man I just passed looked scared when I pulled in the one-way road. On a positive note, I have been staying in my lane.

Kirkstall Abbey

Unlike Kansas, we have been having lovely weather (although I prefer the cold). It has not rained since I got back and has been sunny everyday, but one, which must be some sort of record for English weather. I've been spending a lot of time outside. This past week was still a part of spring break, so I just started back to class today.

Last Saturday, I went to Kirkstall Abbey, which is about 10 miles from where I live and it's a pretty easy drive. It is set in a park by the canal. The Abbey was built in 1152 by the Cistercian Monks and remained a working monastery until Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries in 1535 (ish). It is absolutely beautiful!

I live about a quarter of a mile from a bunch of horses. We think they are of German ancestry-I would call them work horses. Anyway, I've been feeding them carrotts and apples. They love me and will run up to me when I walk towards them. There's about 20 or so. The owner lives near me, I don't know what he does with them. I've always just seen them eating or lying around in the fields.

I have also included a few pictures while I'm driving-you can clearly see I'm on the opposite side of the road. My driving is much better now. I still despise round-abouts and the Brits get a bit cheeky when I drive round them trying to find my exit. Other than that, I'm doing quite well.

Where I go-trouble follows, but I made it back to England

I got back to Leeds today around 5pm (11am KS time). It was a long Thursday and Friday. My flights were running late, so I was rushed and then I get to the Delta terminal at JFK for my international flight and the terminal had been locked down. There was a security breech, so they stopped all flights. There were hundreds of people standing and sitting on the floor by the check-in area. Apparently a man broke through security and had a package-they couldn't find him or the package. We even had to evacuate the terminal for a bit. I finally took off at 11:40pm-about 4 hours after my scheduled flight. It was a quiet flight-I think everyone was exhausted after being held up. There were no places to sit, but the floor (and not much room to sit), so I stood for hours.

We got in around 11:30am to London and I had to face British Immigration. They still gave me lip, but I got through. It's because I have so many stamps in my passport. I'm going to get a new one-that'll show 'em!! I got another "special" tracking stamp-how rude! I used to be England's number 1 fan until they got too nosey at customs.

Both of my suitcases made it without problems-very grateful for that-one of them was just food. I've missed my roommate and visa versa. He said it's been too quiet at home without me.

HAPPY EASTER!!